Seth Stohs

Correct. I think scouts/evaluators are likely a little leery of giving up much for Suzuki and for him to return to Suzuki, circa last few seasons over the final two months. Certainly a fair concern. As for Willingham, he's hit alright the last two weeks, but scouts/evaluators may see him as just done. And that's not an unfair opinion. That said, he might be a nice power bat off of a bench who can DH. I think there's a better chance that lesser names would get dealt, like Butera last year. This year, I could see Florimon being a guy like that. I also think there are a few bullpen arms that might garner some late interest pre-deadline.

See the organization chart... there is a pre-set query that gives you everyone that's eligible.

It was an easy call on Nate Roberts, and frankly, probably was his call. From what I've heard, it took him 2-3 hours a day just to prepare himself to try to play that night. And then after the game, it was more of the same. Every day. And no, at this stage, he really couldn't run. And, you can't just trade everyone. I'd consider trading Duensing because I actually think he could bring back a solid prospect, but he's NOT making too much money. I'm guilty of this too. Sometimes we want players dealt just because, but you can't just do that. Also, it's not going to be easy to convince a team to want someone like Correia. I actually think there is a better chance that Pedro Florimon is traded that Kevin Correia.

But it's really not.

Today, we'll round out the infield and vote for the preseason AL Central third baseman. Let's get the discussion going on "Which AL Central Third Baseman will be the best in 2012?" Vote now and comment your rankings. The Candidates (2011 stats) Minnesota Twins - Danny Valencia - .246/.294/.383 (.677) with 28-2B, 2-3B, 15-HR, 72 RBI Chicago White Sox - Brent Morel - .245/.287/.366 (.653) with 18-2B, 1-3B, 10-HR, 41 RBI Cleveland Indians - Jack Hannahan - .250/.331/.388 (.719) with 16-2B, 2-3B, 8-HR, 40 RBI Lonnie Chisenhall MLB - .255/.284/.415 (.699) with 13-2B, 0-3B, 7-HR, 22 RBI Lonnie Chisenhall MILB - .267/.353/.431 (.784) with 15-2B, 3-3B, 7-HR, 45 RBI Detroit Tigers - Miguel Cabrera - .344/.448/.586 (1.033) with 48-2B, 0-3B, 30-HR, 105 RBI Kansas City Royals - Mike Moustakus MLB- .263/.309/.367 (.675) with 18-2B, 1-3B, 5-HR, 30 RBI Mike Moustakus MILB- .287/.347/.498 (.845) with 15-2B, 1-3B, 10-HR, 44 RBI[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] SUMMARY Valencia burst on the scene in June of 2010 and hit .311. He hit .311 and came up big in many situations. 2011 was a very frustrating year for Valencia offensively and defensively. He was the lone Twins player who managed to stay pretty much healthy all year. He's off to a good start the spring, and hopefully that will carry into the season. Valencia will be 27 years old most of the season. (For much more, be sure to read Nick's Twins 3B Position Analysis.) Morel has been a prospect in the White Sox system for quite some time. He is solid with the glove, but he struggled at the plate in 2011. Morel will turn 25 years old in April. Cleveland has a little position battle brewing at third base. Cretin-Derham Hall grad and former Gopher Jack Hannahan is 32 and the definition of a solid, replacement level veteran. Lonnie Chisenhall was the team's 1st round pick in 2008 and has risen quickly up the system. He didn't hit as well as most believe that he will. He is just 23 years old. Miguel Cabrera is one of the best hitters in all of baseball. He has played in six All Star games. Although he's never been named league MVP, he has finished in the top five in voting five times. he has finished in the top three each of the past three seasons. He moves to third base this season with the Tigers' acquisition of Prince Fielder. That should be interesting for the soon-to-be 29 year old. Mike Moustakus has been a top prospect since being drafted by the Royals. He is a good combination of power and batting average. The 23 year old should hopes to make big strides in 2012 and give the Royals a great young nucleus with its corner infielders. There is the information, now it is time to vote. Who will be the best third baseman in the AL Central in 2012? My choice? Download attachment: MiguelCabrera.jpg Click here to view the article

The Twins announced this morning that left-handed relief pitcher Glen Perkins had agreed to and signed a three year contract extension worth $10.3 million. The contract includes an option for 2016. UPDATE - According to Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune via Twitter, "#Twins will pay Perkins $2.5 million in 2013, and $3.75 m in both 2014 and 2015. Option (2016) is for $4.5 m with $300K buyout." In January, Perkins and the Twins avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1.55 million contract for 2012. We do not yet have the breakdown for his annual salaries going forward, but an average annual salary of $3.43 million puts him in line with other top young bullpen arms. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The contract essentially buys out his final year of arbitration and two years of free agency, with an option for a third year. The Minnesota native and former Minnesota Gopher will continue to pitch in key roles for the Twins through at least the 2015 season. Remember just one year ago today, most Twins fans would have been happy if the Twins had just released Perkins rather than offer him arbitration. However, the Twins insisted that his move to the bullpen would be fruitful, that the ball was 'really coming out of his hand well.' Perkins responded very well, posting an ERA of 2.48 and a WHIP of 1.23. In 61.2 innings, he walked 21 and struck out 65. The Twins haven't had the best of luck with long-term deals of late, but this one makes a lot of sense. What do you think of the deal and the Twins signing a long-term deal with one of its top bullpen arms? Download attachment: Glen Perkins.jpg Click here to view the article

Download attachment: DenardSpanTraded.jpg Last week, the Twins announced that they had signed Jeff Clement, the team’s 12th round pick in the 2002 draft. Clement chose not to sign with the Twins, instead going to USC and later signing with the Mariners as the #3 overall pick in 2005. Following the Twins Thursday trade of Denard Span to the Washington Nationals in exchange for RHP Alex Meyer, Clement is now the only player that the Twins drafted in 2002 that is with the organization. The Twins drafted Span with the 20th overall pick in the 2002 draft. The Colorado Rockies, who picked ninth that season, had offered him a pre-draft deal at $2 million, but Span declined it. He had a football scholarship to Clemson in his back pocket. However, at the end of the summer, just before the deadline, he signed with the Twins for about a $1.2 million bonus. Below will be a look back at the Twins career of Denard Span. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Hopefully it will jar some great memories for you, and I encourage you to post your thoughts and some of your highlights or memories of Span as a Twins outfielder. MINOR LEAGUE CAREER He began his professional career in 2003 by playing 50 games in Elizabethton. He hit .271/.355/.319 (.674) with seven extra base hits. He stole 14 bases. In 2004, he moved up to the Midwest League. The Twins affiliate at the time was in Quad Cities. He was limited to just 64 games due to broken bone in his hand. He hit .267/.363/.308 (.672) with four doubles and three triples. Span’s prospect status was moving down, but he was clearly already showing an ability to get on base via the walk. At SethSpeaks.net, I ranked him as the Twins #16 prospect. Despite missing so much time in 2004, he was pushed up to Ft. Myers to start the 2005 season. Through 49 games, he was hitting .339/.410/.403 (.813) with three doubles, three triples and his second professional home run. He already had 13 stolen base. His prospect status was returning. At that point, the Twins promoted him to New Britain where he played in 68 more games. He hit .285/.355/.345 (.699) with six doubles and five homers. He jumped up to the #8 spot in the Twins prospect rankings. In 2006, he returned to New Britain and spent the entire season there. He hit .285/.340/.349 with 16 doubles, six triples and two home runs. He also stole 24 bases. It was a solid season for Span, but he dropped to #12 on my Twins prospect list (one spot ahead of LHP Brian Duensing, and one spot behind 1B/RF Chris Parmelee). Following the season, the Twins added him to the 40 man roster. In 2007, he was finally promoted to Rochester where he played centerfield and was the leadoff hitter every day. He hit .267/.323/.355 (.678) with 20 doubles, 7 triples and 3 home runs while stealing 24 bases. At this point, I inexplicably dropped him to #30 in my prospect ranking and wrote, “I certainly do not believe that he is ready to take over the Twins CF position. However, I would say that Span could become a solid #4 outfielder in the big leagues. I would like to say that he could be a Jason Tyner-like player. He hasn’t shown an ability to get on base at a high rate, he has little to no power and he is not an efficient base stealer. ” In an October 2007 Q&A with Josh Johnson, Josh asked, “What is something people would be shocked to know about you?” Span’s response? “That I read Twins blogs. I read about people saying that I’m not ready and that I suck. But I read it to get motivated.” At Twins Fest in January of 2008, I had an exchange with Span. “I got to the front of the line, and I said, "Denard, I am one of those hated Twins bloggers you don't like, but would you still be willing to sign my card?" Denard looked at me and said, "Which one?" I had my SethSpeaks.net hat on which he seemed to notice just after he asked the question. I just said, "Seth... from SethSpeaks." He said, "I suppose, but you guys are tough on me!!" A few other sentences were uttered, and it really was nice. As I was moving to the next person in line, Denard looked over and said, "Hey Seth, I really do like your site. You do a really good job."” Torii Hunter, a mentor for Span, had signed a free agent contract with the Angels on Thanksgiving. The centerfield job was open. But as much as the Twins brass wanted us to believe that they believed Span could take the job if needed, it was clear during Johan Santana trade talks that the Twins would be requiring a MLB-ready centerfielder in return. Jacoby Ellsbury’s name was mentioned. And when Santana went to the Mets, Carlos Gomez was returned. Now only that, but don’t forget that Jason Pridie was part of that offseason’s Rays/Twins trade, in part because of lack of confidence in Span. Major League Career Span had a big spring training in 2008. Unfortunately, on March 24, less than a week before the season opener, Span was sent back to Rochester. After an impressive showing, Span was clearly and understandably disappointed. However, he went down and did his work. On Friday, April 4, Michael Cuddyer needed to go on the 15-Day Disabled List because of a lacerated finger. Span was promoted, and he would be playing right field, a position he had never played before. He debuted on April 6th against the Royals. He batted ninth and played right field. In his first at bat, he grounded back to Royals’ starter Brett Tomko. He walked in his second plate appearance, and then grounded out in his final plate appearance. The next night, against the White Sox, Span batted second. He was 1-3 with a walk. In his second at bat, he notched his first big league hit, a single to left field off of Javier Vazquez. He proceeded to steal second base. When Cuddyer returned, Span briefly went back to Rochester where he played in 40 games, but he was soon back. On July 28, he hit his first major league home run, a two-run homer off of the White Sox Mark Buehrle. The 24-year-old Span hit .294/.387/.432 with 16 doubles, seven triples and six home runs. He also stole 18 bases. At season’s end, he finished sixth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. In 2009, his first full season, Span hit .311/.392/.415 with 16 doubles, a league-leading 10 triples and eight home runs. He stole 23 bases. Span played terrific centerfield defense and was getting on base about 39% of the time, showing his value as a leadoff hitter. Although he struggled at times on the bases, he stole 41 bases. Before the 2010 season, the Twins and Span agreed to the five year, $16.5 million deal. That season, he played 153 games. He hit just .264/.331/.348 with 24 doubles, ten triples and three home runs. He was also 26/30 in steal attempts. Span was off to a terrific start in 2011. In the season’s first half, he hit .294/.361/.385 (.746). However, a simple, feet-first slide into a Royals’ catcher, and Span suffered a concussion in early June. He missed time. Despite the injury, there were consistent rumors following Span, primarily involving the Washington Nationals. He attempted to come back in August. In nine games, he went 2-35 (.057) in 35 at bats. He was shut down again and returned for five games late in the season. He went 4-18 with two doubles and two triples. At least he had something positive to go into the offseason. Because of Justin Morneau’s situation, Span, the Twins and Twins fans were understandably concerned going into the 2012 season. Some caution was used, but overall, he had a very nice season. He hit .283/.342/.395 with 38 doubles, four triples and four home runs. Span’s career was full of positive and some negative highlights. He made a lot of great defensive plays all around the outfield. He came up with some huge late-inning hits and walk-offs. He had that MLB-record tying three triples in one game. There was the spring training game in Tampa on ESPN when he hit his mom with a line-drive foul ball which thankfully was not a serious injury. Span had a lot of incredible moments in his five seasons with the Twins. He is an emotional person, and he certainly did not want to leave the organization. He is one who truly would have been happy to spend his entire career with the Twins. The Nationals’ Era Begins Which brings us to today, the first day in over a decade that Denard Span is not a member of the Minnesota Twins organization. Span found out when Terry Ryan called his cell phone. He remained quiet until Thursday night when he finally took to Twitter. “All I can say is wow right now!! Def glad I got unlimited calls and text lol.”“def gonna miss everything about Minnesota. From top to bottom as a organization. They gave me an opportunity to fulfill my childhood dream.”“Gonna miss my teammates first and foremost. Secondly gonna miss all the twins fans that showed me so much love.”“But on another note I'm very very very very very very excited to be joining the nationals organization. Def an exciting moment for me to be”“Going to a quality team and organization. I feel like a little kid again lol”Span is going from a team that lost 195 games over the past two seasons to a Washington Nationals team that led Major League Baseball with 98 regular seasons in 2012. He will be the leadoff hitter of a lineup that is very strong. He’ll be joined in the outfield by Jayson Werth and NL Rookie of the Year Bryce Harper. The infield includes Ryan Zimmerman with Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa up the middle. Will Adam LaRoche and his 33 homers and 100 RBI come back via free agency, or will they move Mike Morse, who has hit 49 homers over the past two seasons, to first base? They have former Twins prospect Wilson Ramos coming back from his knee injury, and Kurt Suzuki behind the plate. Span will play centerfield behind a pitching rotation that will include Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman and Ross Detwiler. And their bullpen was dominant and will include Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard, Craig Stammen, Ryan Mattheus, Sean Burnett, Mike Gonzalez and Tom Gorzellany. Span is going to a legitimate World Series championship caliber team. In a way, Span is returning home. Well, he is at least returning to his birth place. Span was born in 1984 in Washington DC. However, he never lived there. As Nationals’ writer Adam Kilgore tweeted, “His mother was visiting family in D.C. while pregnant. ‘I ended up just popping out.’” For the Twins, it really means a couple of things as well, especially depending upon or pending any other moves the team will make. First and foremost, it means that Ben Revere will have to step up as a lead off hitter. We all know what Revere is as a defensive outfielder. He’s a highlight film waiting to happen. His range is tremendous which generally makes up for his lack of arm. It also likely means that Chris Parmelee is currently the opening day right fielder. The 2006 top pick has done everything that he can in the minor leagues to show he’s ready for the opportunity. The front office now found a spot in the lineup for him, and he too will have to step up. His opportunity as an outfielder may be limited with Oswaldo Arcia and Aaron Hicks waiting in the wings for their opportunity as well. But What About the Trade? So, everything up to this has been talking up Denard Span, and rightfully so. We wanted to remind people of what he has meant to the Twins in his nearly five seasons in the big leagues with the Twins. We’ve been basically singing his praises. But does that mean that I don’t like the trade? Not at all. In fact, I think I had nearly talked myself into believing that the Twins would have to accept a lesser offer for Span than we believed he was worth. A couple of weeks ago, Terry Ryan told me, “we’re not going to take any shortcuts.” I was very encouraged by that. I am sure that a lot of fans are disappointed that the Twins didn’t get a pitcher who is ready to step into the big league rotation right now. Likely, the Twins had a choice to make. Do they want MLB-ready back-of-the-rotation starters, or is it truly about obtaining the most talent? This trade tells me that it was about getting the upside, and I think that’s the right decision. There are certainly risks with Alex Meyer. Many pitchers as tall as he is (6-9) struggle to find a consistent release point. In his first pro season after a college career, Meyer pitched in Low A and a little in High-A. Compare that to Kyle Gibson, who was drafted near the same position that Meyer (23) was in the 2011 draft. Gibson started in High-A and got the AAA that first full season. Gibson is more polished. No question. As someone close to the Twins told me last night, “he has big stuff, three high-end pitches.” There are not a lot of pitchers who throw in the upper 90s, with an upper 80s slider, a knuckle curve and a good change up. Alex Meyer has a chance to be really special. Sure, he could flop. But I am in agreement that the Twins need to be thinking about the future and with Meyer, they have a guy who they can control for the next 6-8 years. Meyer was selected by the Nationals out of the University of Kentucky with the 23rd overall pick in the 2011 draft. It’s likely the Twins have seen a lot of him. Consider, in 2010, the Twins drafted fellow-Wildcats LHP Logan Darnell in the 6th round, and 1B/OF Lance Ray in the 8th round. I asked each for their thoughts. Darnell said that they were teammates for two seasons. Darnell added, “He is a great guy, good teammate and very talented player! He throws in mid high 90s with a very good slider, and a pretty good change up, he’s excited to be a Twin too.” Ray noted, “Really excited about having the opportunity to play with Meyer again. He is a really talented pitcher, and I can’t wait to play defense behind him. Meyer is a guy who can dominate the game when he is on the mound.” Then again, he added, “On the other hand, Span will be missed. He was a great player and a really good person.” Ranking the 2002 1st round picks According to WAR, here is a ranking of the top 1st round picks in the 2002 draft, based on WAR. 1.) Zack Greinke (30.0) - #6 overall by Royals 2.) Matt Cain (29.7) - #25 overall by Giants 3.) Cole Hamels (28.2) - #17 overall by Phillies 4.) Prince Fielder (19.7) - #7 overall by Brewers 5.) Nick Swisher (17.9) - #16 overall by A’s (Moneyball draft!) 6.)Denard Span (16.5) - #20 overall by Twins 7.) Jeremy Guthrie (15.6) - #22 overall by Cleveland 8.) Scott Kazmir (15.2) - #15 overall pick by Mets 9.) BJ Upton (13.6) - #2 overall by Rays 10.) Jeff Francisc (10.0) - #9 overall by Rockies Span is one of nine players that the Twins drafted in 2001 that made it to the big leagues. As mentioned earlier, with this trade, Jeff Clement (who signed a minor league deal with the Twins last year) is the only 2002 Twins draft pick who is with the Twins now. Jesse Crain was the 2nd round pick that season out of the University of Houston. Pat Neshek was the Twins 6th round pick out of Butler University. 11th round pick Evan Meek didn’t last long with the Twins because of severe control issues, but he had a couple of good years in the Pirates bullpen. Like Clement, Adam Lind did not sign with the Twins, choosing to go to college. He was the Twins 8th round pick. Span’s youth team opponent and occasional teammate Clete Thomas was the Twins 5th round pick that season but chose not to sign. Kyle Phillips (10th round) spent some time in the big leagues as a backup catcher. Garrett Mock (14th round) got into 55 big league games as a reliever as well. Denard Span, Minnesota Twins Denard Span was very active in the Twins community. He went to hospitals and visited kids. He bowled. He signed and he signed. He did so with a smile on his face. He quickly became a fan favorite. To those that know him, it didn’t take long at all for people to realize what a good person he is. As news came out, Ben Revere tweeted, “gonna miss you big bro..!!! Do work over there..!!!”Scott Diamond tweeted, “Want to wish @thisisdspan all the best with the Nationals. He was a great teammate and a better friend. All the best buddy”Want to wish @thisisdspan the best of luck with the nats. Great player and even a better friend and teammate. Good luck homiePJ Walters tweeted, “Hate to see @thisisdspan leave. Great friend and teammate! Nothing but the best to you man! See you in the World Series!”Trevor Plouffe, who is enjoying his bachelor party this weekend, tweeted, “Going to miss @thisisdspan . I've learned a lot from him over the years and def respect the way he goes about his business. Good luck bro!”Twins broadcaster and Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven tweeted, “Good luck to Denard Span now with the Nationals. He wore the Twins uniform with a lot of pride and class.”Twins Director of Baseball Communications and Player Relations Dustin Morse tweeted, “I wish you well @thisisdspan - the way you treated the media, the Twins staff & the community - you will be missed. Thank you Denard.”Twins President Dave St. Peter tweeted, “@Twins family is going to miss @thisisdspan. A great contributor, both on field and in community. Class act all the way. Wish him well!!”The word “Class” may be over-used, but when it comes to Denard Span, it is a word that everyone seems to agree with. Like Michael Cuddyer before him, Span represents what it means to be a Minnesota Twins player. Great person. Great teammate. Great with the media. Great with the fans. Great in the community. Oh, and a very good baseball player. After a decade in the organization, it will be strange to see Span elsewhere, but in my mind, Span will always be a Minnesota Twin no matter the uniform. Click here to view the article

On Thursday morning, the Twins sent their third batch of players to minior league camp. There were: RHP Sam DedunoLHP Phil DumatraitC Danny LehmannIF Ray ChangOF Matt CarsonNone of these moves would be considered a surprise. Dumatrait spent a lot of time in the Twins bullpen in 2011, but with Glen Perkins and Brian Duensing already set in the bullpen and Matt Maloney's emergence, there wasn't room for him any more. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Ray Chang was in the running with the likes of Pedro Florimon and Michael Hollimon and Sean Burroughs for the final roster spot, but of the group, he has had the fewest opportunities this spring. Interestingly, Chris Parmelee, Joe Benson, Liam Hendriks and Brian Dozier all will remain in big league camp a little bit longer. Parmelee is likely there as Morneau insurance. Hendriks is sticking around as Baker insurance. And, Brian Dozier is around because he's not on the 40 man roster and the coaching staff seems to want to see as much of him as they can before sending him to Rochester to start the season. The Twins still have a bunch of guys to cut to get down to 25, but with Opening Day just two weeks from tomorrow, there isn't much more time to impress. Including the return of Rule 5 pick Terry Doyle to the White Sox, the Twins now have 39 players remaining in big league camp. Download attachment: RayChang.jpg Click here to view the article

The Twins got a nice 2-1, 10-inning win in Chicago against the White Sox. Eduardo Escobar, who came to the Twins last July from the South Siders, beat out an infield single to shortstop. Ryan Doumit advanced to third base and then went home when Jeff Keppinger was unable to cleanly catch the one-hop throw from Alexei Ramirez. Finally, Glen Perkins came on to record the save. There were also a couple of one-run games in the Twins farm system. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]A big home run helped Rochester to a win, giving them their first back-to-back wins of the season. The Ft. Myers Miracle also played an entertaining one-run game, but you’ll have to keep reading to see whether or not they won. Byron Buxton’s batting average dropped to .420, but how did the Kernels play? Were the Rock Cats able to bounce back from a big loss a night earlier? Check down below, and please feel free to discuss. Rochester Red Wings 5, Pawtucket Red Sox 4 Box Score It was a back-and-forth game on Saturday afternoon between these two teams. Fortunately, the Red Wings managed to score last on Chris Colabello’s sixth home run of the season. Colabello went 2-4 with that organization-leading sixth home run. Clete Thomas went 2-3 with a walk. Joe Benson was 2-4. Andrew Albers started and really struggled. Typically an aggressive control pitcher, Albers walked three in just two innings. He gave up three runs on four hits and struck out just one. Caleb Thielbar came on pitched well. The lefty gave up two hits and a walk in three scoreless frames. He struck out three. Shairon Martis gave up a solo home run. He gave up just that one run on three hits and a walk in two innings. Tim Wood’s rehab stint continued with his first appearance in Rochester. He had been the International League Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2012 and struck out two on this day. Anthony Slama came in for the ninth and went 1, 2, 3 for his second save of the year. New Britain Rock Cats 1, Portland Sea Dogs 7 Box Score After losing 12-1 on Friday night, it was important for the Rock Cats to get off to a fast start on Saturday afternoon. Danny Santana led off the game with his second triple. James Beresford drove him in with a sacrifice fly. That was about it for the Rock Cats offense. Santana was 2-4. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his sixth double. Danny Ortiz hit his seventh double. Logan Darnell started for New Britain. The left-hander gave up five runs (3 earned) on seven hits and two walks. In five innings, he struck out six. AJ Achter gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in his 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Aaron Thompson came on and gave up two hits but no runs in 1.1 innings. Ft. Myers Miracle 5, St. Lucie Mets 6 Box Score So Close! On Saturday night, Ft. Myers was inches away from a Miracle win in St. Lucie. Down 6-2 going into the ninth frame, Eddie Rosario singled. Then three straight Miracle hitters walked which cut the lead to 6-3. Another reliever came on and gave up a single to Kennys Vargas to cut the lead to 6-4. Eight and nine hitters, Lance Ray and Andy Leer, struck out. That brought up AJ Pettersen. Pettersen hit a hard ground ball off of a diving first baseman. The single scored one run. However, pinch runner Stephen Wickens attempted to score from second on the play but was thrown out at the plate. The Miracle were that close to keeping the game going, but unfortunately, they fall to 14-2 with the 6-5 loss. Tom Stuifbergen started and gave up just one run through the first six innings. In the bottom of the 7th, a one-out single was followed by a controversial hit batter. The Miracle believed that the ball hit the batter’s bat. With the runner attempting to steal third, the next batter grounded to third base, but Miguel Sano committed his fourth error of the year which loaded the bases. TJ Rivera then hit a bases-clearing double that opened up the game. That was the end of the line for Stuifbergen. In total, he went 6.1 innings and gave up five runs (3 earned) on seven hits. He walked none and struck out five. Adrian Salcedo came in and gave up a run on three hits in 1.2 innings. Miguel Sano went 2-3 with a walk and his fifth double. photo to the right is courtesy of Cedar Rapids Kernels Facebook page. Be sure to "Like" it. Cedar Rapids Kernels 11, Peoria Chiefs 2 Box Score If you can put up crooked numbers on the scoreboard, it’s always a good thing. The Red Wings scored six runs in the first inning and another five runs in the fourth inning to jump out to a huge lead. The Kernels collected 17 hits in the game. Drew Leachman led the offense with a 4-5 day. He was playing for just the fourth time on the season and came into the game hitting .142 (2-14). He now is hitting .316 after missing almost two weeks with a shoulder injury. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 with two walks and had two RBI. Romy Jimenez went 2-4 with his second double and four RBI. He had a bases-clearing double in the first inning. Jhonatan Arias went 2-5, his first two hits of the season. Travis Harrison was 2-4 with a walk. Adam Walker was 2-4. Jorge Polanco was 2-6. Byron Buxton’s batting average dropped to .420 with an 0-4 game. He did, however, walk twice in the long first inning. Lefty Mason Melotakis started and gave up one run on four hits. Unfortunately with the run support he got, Melotakis was only able to go 3.1 innings, in part because of four walks. Steve Gruver came on for an “easy” “Win” but pitched well. The southpaw gave up one run on four hits in 4.2 innings. He walked none and struck out four. Tyler Jones pitched the ninth inning and gave up a hit, but no runs. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

As has been the case throughout most of the first two months of the 2013 season, the excitement tonight in the Twins minor league system came from the bottom two levels. The Ft. Myers Miracle and Cedar Rapids Kernels combined to score 28 runs. One prospect drilled two home runs in a game. Vance Worley made his second start with Rochester. Was he able to duplicate he quality of his first game? And which Alex Meyer showed up on Saturday?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins minor leagues have had quite a few walk-off wins already this year. It was also fun watching the big league club get a walk-off win Saturday afternoon. With that, check out what happened in the Twins minor league system on Saturday, including the Dominican Summer League opener: Rochester Red Wings 3, Charlotte Knights 4 Box Score Vance Worley took the mound for his second Red Wings start. His first was a complete game shutout. His second- not so much. He gave up a first inning run. Then he gave up three runs in the second. Not a good start, but he did go on to throw five shutout innings. Overall, he gave up four runs on ten hits and a walk in seven innings. He struck out seven. Luis Perdomo struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning. The Red Wings had plenty of scoring opportunities. They had eight hits and they also walked 12 times. Somehow they managed to score just three runs. Antoan Richardson led off and went 1-2 with three walks and his fifth stolen base. Oswaldo Arcia was 1-2 with three walks. His sixth Red Wings home run came in the ninth inning and cut the deficit to one. Jeff Clement was 2-4. New Britain Rock Cats 4, Bowie Baysox 3 Box Score Alex Meyer has been, at times solid, but quite inconsistent for the Rock Cats this season. On this evening he was terrific. The lanky right-handed starter went 6.1 innings. He gave up one run on two hits and two walks. He struck out a season-high ten. Blake Martin came on and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. AJ Achter came on and got the final five outs for his third save. He gave up two hits and a walk but no runs. James Beresford led the way offensively by going 3-4 with his fifth stolen base. He’s now hitting .338 and inexplicably remaining in AA. Danny Ortiz was 2-4. Danny Santana was very good in May and, in the first game in June, went 2-4 with his 10th and 11th stolen bases. Nate Hanson and Curt Smith each doubled. Ft. Myers Miracle 13, Palm Beach Cardinals 4 Box Score The Miracle offense exploded in this game. Angel Morales is also inexplicably still in Ft. Myers. It’s his third season with the Miracle and he had a terrific month of May. In this game he was 3-4 with two doubles. Kennys Vargas was 3-6. Eddie Rosario went 3-5 with his fifth triple. Andy Leer went 2-4 with two walks and his fourth home run. Aderlin Mejia was 2-5 with a walk. Jhon Goncalves went 2-6. Tom Stuifbergen was the recipient of the run support. The Dutch right-hander went six innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out three. Chad Rodgers threw two shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out one. Nelvin Fuentes gave up a run on a hit in an inning. Cedar Rapids Kernels 15, Kane County 2 Box Score Byron Buxton was given a rare night off, and the Kernels’ bats took off. Fifteen runs on fifteen hits and nine walks make for a pretty good day. Dalton Hicks led the way. The burly first baseman went 3-4 with a walk, his sixth and seventh homers and four RBI. Tyler Grimes went 3-3 with two walks and a triple. Jeremias Pineda went 2-3 with two walks and his first home run. JD Williams and Niko Goodrum were each 2-5 with a walk and a double. Jorge Polanco and Adam Walker each added a double. Photo by Rinaldi Photos Lefty Brett Lee was appreciative of the run support, though he needed not much of it. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on seven hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out four. Finishing the game, Manuel Soliman struck out four in two perfect innings. DSL Twins 5, DSL Orioles 6 Box Score This was opening day in the Dominican Summer League. The Twins squad used seven pitchers to get through nine innings. Onesimo Hernandez gave up one run on four hits (and a hit batter) in three innings. He struck out thre. Carlos Aponte gave up two runs on two hits and a hit batter in one inning. Sebastian Perez gave up one run on two hits in two innings. Robener Cabrera gave up an unearned run on one hit and a walk in one innings. Johan Quezada walked two and struck out two in one scoreless inning. Rendis Reyes got two outs, though he gave up one run on two walks. Ezequiel Zarzuela got the final out. The offense was led by 17-year-old catcher Rainis Silva who went 2-4. Rafael Valera and Carlos Martinez each doubled. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

Tuesday marked the beginning of playoff season in full-season minor league baseball. Game 1's were played in the Florida State League, including the Ft. Myers Miracle. On Wednesday, Rochester and Cedar Rapids will begin their second seasons. Ft. Myers Miracle 0, Charlotte Stone Crabs 1 The Miracle had the best overall record in the Florida State League in 2013, and yet, after game one in the playoffs, they are on the brink of elimination. Remember, this is a best of three series. It takes just two wins to win the series. Of course, the Miracle will need to hold court at home to advance to the next round. Game one was played in Charlotte. The series will shift to Ft. Myers for games two and three. For Matt Summers, he saw several nights like this in the regular season. Despite leading the Florida State League in ERA and WHIP, he had a record of just 6-5. He was quite good. The right-hander went six innings and gave up just one run. He allowed five hits, walked one and struck out four. Tyler Duffey came on and threw the final two innings, giving up one hit and striking out one. Unfortunately, the Miracle managed just three hits in the game. The three batters at the top of the lineup (AJ Pettersen, Stephen Wickens and Byron Buxton) each had one single. Download attachment: Matt Summers 2.JPG What's Next? As previously stated, the Miracle series will now head to Ft. Myers for Game 2 on Wednesday night. Lefty Taylor Rogers will get the start for the Miracle in a must-win game. In Rochester, the Red Wings will open up game 1 of their best of five series against Pawtucket (the Red Sox AAA affiliate). The Twins will send Cole De Vries to the mound. In yesterday's playoff preview, I mentioned that Dakota Watts had been promoted to the Red Wings for the playoffs. It was learned on Tuesday morning that Trevor May will also join the Red Wings. Cedar Rapids will be playing in Davenport on Wednesday night against the Quad Cities River Bandits. Left Brett Lee will be the game 1 starter. Awards Eduardo Escobar was named the International League Batter of the Week. The Red Wings shortstop had a huge game on Monday for the, collecting three doubles, a homer and five RBI. He has also hit .307 in his 43 total games for the team. Tim Shibuya threw a complete game shutout for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. On Tuesday, he was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week. He's been tremendous since coming back from his shoulder injury. With the Kernels, he is now 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA. He will get the nod in Game 2. Coming Soon... We will continue our playoff coverage as long as there is a Twins affiliate in the playoffs. There will also be a lot of minor league, season-ending coverage in the next week. As always, if you have questions, please feel free to let me know. Click here to view the article

Just for fun, let’s imagine that you have worked for a company for more than 25 years. Imagine you have been in a very important position within that company for a dozen years. You’ve given your heart and soul, worked hard and dedicated your energies to that company. You may not be the perfect employee. Frankly, for your job, there is no such thing as perfect. However, it’s not an easy job, dealing with personalities and performances of others. Download attachment: Gardenhire_Anderson_Looking_US_720.jpg Imagine now that the last three or four projects that you were in charge of had not gone as planned. Though the expectations of some were that the projects would be simple, each had unforeseen challenges. You did your job in the right ways, continued to work hard, continued to work with your teams. You performed your job and did all the necessary work, but the projects were not seen as successes. How would you want your boss and his or her superiors to respond? Well, there are two options, aren’t there? Option 1 – They could decide to terminate your employment or push you to a different area of the company. That’s probably the easier choice. Option 2 – Despite the loud voices to the contrary, your boss can stand up for you and talk about how the whole team, the whole organization is responsible and accountable. The boss can ask you to work on certain things, and maybe look in the mirror at areas you can improve, in an attempt to improve the overall performance. The boss can stand behind you to his or her superiors because there have been many successes along the way, big and small. With Monday’s decision to retain the services of Manager Ron Gardenhire for the next two seasons, GM Terry Ryan chose for Option #2, and my personal opinion is that it is the right decision. Ron Gardenhire is not without faults. There are times I may question some in-game decisions, or why he chooses to call out a young player through the media, but overall, Gardenhire has proven himself on the field. He and his coaching staff also put in their work and their time, all in the effort of making players better every day. There have been several successes, and like all walks of life, there are plenty of mistakes. The Twins lost 96 games in 2013, the third straight season they have lost at least that many games. The number of managers who have kept their job after three straight 90-loss seasons is very low. However, one such example of this is the Twins, and it was Tom Kelly. It should surprise no one that the organization wants to remain loyal and wants to build from within. In early September, the Twins found themselves with a 61-77 record. They proceeded to lose 14 of their final 19 games to end the year at 66-96. Of course, Justin Morneau had been traded and Joe Mauer missed the final six weeks with his concussion. “The players want Gardy to come back.” To nobody's surprise, players were quoted over the weekend that they wanted Ron Gardenhire to return and spoke glowingly about his managerial style and how hard he worked. Listening to the quotes of players who are loyal to their manager is definitely not something the GM should base his decision on. However, the only thing worse than making a move to appease the players is to make a move to appease the fans. Fans want wins, and that’s what everybody wants. There’s nothing wrong with that. The GM's job is to find ways to win as quickly as possible while also looking out for the long-term future of the product on the field. The idea of making a change just to make a change is obviously not smart. Consider this. A year ago, fans were screaming for Joe Vavra to lose the hitting coach duties so Tom Brunansky could take over. How well did that turn out for the Twins in 2013, a Twins team that struck out the third most times by a team in baseball history? Many will choose to look at the last three seasons. It’s also hard to ignore his first nine seasons. In that time, he had six division titles, and a second place finish (after losing a Game 163). Just once in his first nine seasons did the Twins have a sub-.500 record. Some choose to look at the Twins playoff record, and I understand that. However, what happens over a 162 game sample size is a more reliable indicator than a five game sample any day. Manager of the Year voting is always an interesting endeavor. However, he won the award in 2010 after finishing second in voting five times previously. The respect that Gardenhire has in the baseball industry is great. So, how much credit and how much blame should a manager get? The Cleveland Indians won more than 20 games more in 2013 than in 2012. Terry Francona took over for Manny Acta. The difference, however, was that Francona inherited a rotation in which four starters were able to strike out over eight batters per nine innings. They had a lineup of veterans that was supplemented with free agents Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. Ron Gardenhire worked with a starting staff that seemed allergic to missing bats. Remember: Ron Gardenhire could have been a free agent manager on Monday. He could have had his choice of open jobs in the coming weeks. I appreciate that he wants to stay here. As he said, he wants to be part of the answer for turning this around. He is going to need help from the front office to make that happen. Despite being 102 games below over the last three years, Gardenhire is still 51 games over .500 for his 12-year career. He has not forgotten how to manage, and he has the respect of his players. Brian Dozier and several bullpen arms took strides forward, and Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins played at their All-Star levels. Kyle Gibson, Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks, Josmil Pinto, Caleb Thielbar, Ryan Pressly and Michael Tonkin came up, took some lumps, gained some experience, and should be better for it. In 2014, Twins fans should see the debuts of Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Alex Meyer, Trevor May, likely Byron Buxton, and maybe Danny Santana. Those guys will also likely take some lumps, so 2014 should again be a rebuilding year. The front office and the scouting staff have put together some great minor league talent that will be another year closer in 2014, but for the team to take a major step forward, starting in 2014, the front office will have to acquire some veterans that can be counted on. Also, Josh Willingham and Ryan Doumit, if around, will have to be better. It's going to be 2015 before we see just how good this team can be. The youth and hopefully some complementary veterans will help. And Ron Gardenhire is the right guy to get this team back to contention. I can see Gardenhire doing just like his predecessor, Tom Kelly. After Kelly led the Twins to four straight 90+ loss seasons, he went with a youthful group that, in 2001, competed into the second half of the season. That’s what I can see happening in 2015. Should that happen, I can see Gardenhire saying, "OK, this team is back to where it should be" and turning it over to the next manager who will lead the way for the next decade or more. Click here to view the article

Throughout the offseason, Terry Ryan has continued to say that he is looking for a third baseman to provide competition for Trevor Plouffe. He says that Plouffe will go into spring training as the Twins starting third baseman. However, as the Twins media contingent in Nashville last night met with the Twins GM, it became clear that he will bring in a quality third baseman, and maybe even this week. As Nick wrote yesterday, when Terry Ryan says something over and over, it generally is true. Initial response by Twins fans (myself included) was that, with all of the Twins pitching needs and maybe needs in the middle infield, why would third base be such a focal point?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: TrevorPlouffeHR.jpg Plouffe’s 24 home runs in 2012 was the most by a Twins third baseman since Corey Koskie hit 25 homers in 2004, his final season with the team. It is also hard for Twins fans to forget how Plouffe hit in June and July. In 26 games in June, he hit .327/.391/.735 (1.126) with seven doubles and 11 home runs. In 16 games in July, he hit .302/.343/.476 (.819) with three more homers. It was at that point, in mid-July that Plouffe hurt his thumb, and although initial reports said he would be day-to-day, he missed a month, and when he returned, he hit like he did in April and May. That’s the part that we might forget. In April, Plouffe hit .121/.274/.242 (.517). In May, he hit .185/.254/.400 (.654). In August, he hit .161/.232/.226 (.458). In September, he hit .218/.269/.416 (.684), although he did add four home runs. At the end of the day, er… season, Trevor Plouffe hit .235/.301/.455 (.756) in 119 games. Combined in 2010 and 2011 (103 games), he had hit .226/.286/.382 (.668). Plouffe has been willing to play all over the field. He went to spring training, and started the season, as an outfielder. However, when the Twins DFAd Luke Hughes in April and then optioned Danny Valencia to Rochester in May, Plouffe took over at third base. Initially, he looked quite good at the position. However, in 95 games at the position, he made 14 errors and had a .935 fielding percentage. However, after his return from injury, it appeared that his range, particularly to his right, decreased. If you like UZR, he posted a -6.8 UZR at third base. For all of the struggles, that hot stretch in June and July is encouraging and exciting. Still just 26 years old, Plouffe still has a chance to improve. With so much of Plouffe’s 2012 offensive success coming in about a six week time frame, and struggles with the bat most of the other four months, it’s understandable that Ryan and all of the Twins decision-makers would not be sure what to make of Plouffe’s season or his long-term potential. Ryan has also commented that he isn’t just looking for any third baseman. He wants a third baseman who could be a starter. So, who are the options? Kevin Youklis would seem to be too high-priced to be competition and a backup. Scott Rolen could retire or would stay close to the Reds. Eric Chavez wants t keep playing, but we have to assume he’ll want to play on a contender. Here are some possibilities: Placido Polanco – His numbers have steadily declined the last couple of seasons with the Phillies. He also has not been able to stay on the field consistently. He could play third base while at the same time being a backup option at second base. Brandon Inge – Ron Gardenhire gushed about Inge when the Tigers released him last year during the middle of the season. Solid defensively at third base, he has shown power in the past. When he signed with the A’s, he had some big hits right away, and then was hurt again. Inge could also play some second base and in a pinch, I guess he could go behind the plate. Chone Figgins – He got the big contract from the Mariners three years ago, and has gone from big free agent acquisition, to bust, to utility, to hardly-plays-at all, to the Mariners paying him a lot of money in 2013 NOT to play with them. However, he can play third base, second base and likely some in the outfield. He still has speed. I’m sure he would like an opportunity to get into a nice role and show teams he still has something left. Jack Hannahan – The former Gophers infielder will turn 33 years old in March. Cleveland non-tendered him last week, making him a free agent. He has played 110 and 105 games for the Tribe the past two seasons. Combined, he hit .247/.323/.366 (.688) with 32 doubles, 12 homers and 69 RBI. Certainly not great numbers, but decent for a backup. In 451 games as a big league third baseman in his career, he has a .968 fielding percentage. Last year, that number dropped to .949 (although it was .983 in 2011). In 2011, his UZR was 8.7. In 2012, his UZR was -3.9. Ryan hinted to reporters that the Twins could sign someone for the position this week in Nashville. A case could be made for each of these players, although the assumption (by me) is that Hannahan just makes the most sense. Another local guy who, other than last year, has provided really solid defense at the hot corner. As a left-handed hitter, he could platoon (in theory) with Plouffe if it came to that. He could be an everyday player for a period of time if necessary. And, frankly, he should be available on a minor league deal at around $1 million if he makes the team. A year ago, a 23-year-old Eduardo Escobar was the White Sox opening day utility infielder. He would come in to play third base in late innings. It was more the case later in the season when the Sox acquired Kevin Youklis. They would move Youklis to first base in the late innings and take out Paul Konerko or Adam Dunn (whichever was playing first base). Escobar came to the Twins in the Francisco Liriano deal and can play all three infield positions well. He is very much similar to Twins utility infielders of the past. However, the Twins typically have two backups in the infield, so that may factor in as well. So, what do you think? How much value do you put into Trevor Plouffe’s six-week power binge as it relates to his future? Can he be an .800+ OPS third baseman? Can he make the necessary defensive plays at the hot corner? Do the Twins need to bring in someone as competition who will all but be ensured a big league job? Should third base be getting this much attention when pitching remains a black hole for the Twins? Click here to view the article

Sometimes a team needs just one bad inning to lose a ball game. The Twins had two (really) bad innings in a 10-2 loss to the cross-town Red Sox. Jason Marquis made the start for the Twins and struck out two in a scoreless first inning. He came back out for the second frame and things did not go well at all. Marquis gave up four runs on three hits, a couple of walks and three wild pitches. The pace of the game slowed dramatically that second inning. Jeff Manship came in and quickly recorded the final out of the 2nd inning. He pitched a quick third inning as well, although he did give up a long home run to former Twin David Ortiz, who was playing 1B for the Red Sox. Liam Hendriks pitched very well. He struck out three in two scoreless innings. Carlos Gutierrez came in and quickly struck out two in his inning. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Then came the 7th inning. Deolis Guerra came in and really struggled. He fell behind most hitters and paid for it. He gave up five runs on four hits and a walk. Biggest hit was a 3-run homer off the bat of prospect Dan Butler. Brendan Wise came in and threw a perfect 8th inning. Tyler Robertson gave up a leadoff single but struck out two in a scoreless ninth. Offensively, the Twins managed seven hits. Joe Mauer had two of them, a solid single to left field on a fastball and a line drive single to right on a slow curveball. Denard Span was 1-2 with a walk. Josh Willingham was 1-1 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. The positive story of the game, in my mind, was the performance of righty Carlos Gutierrez. He must have taken manager Ron Gardenhire’s post scrimmage comments last Thursday to heart. Recall that Gutierrez walked three batters and then gave up a double before the inning was called of without recording a third out. In this appearance, Gutierrez was very aggressive. He threw hard, but he threw a lot of strikes. What he found was that the movement and velocity on his pitches made the ball hard to hit. He struck out two batters and just looked incredibly impressive. Download attachment: Gutierrez2.jpg (photo courtesy Jim Crikket) Other highlights including the pitching of Australians Liam Hendriks and Brendan Wise. Hendriks is the Twins top pitching prospect. We saw him in September last year. He showed good control and movement on his pitches. Brendan Wise is a 26-year-old minor league free agent who is yet to reach the major leagues. He profiles similarly to Kyle Waldrop in that he is a ground ball machine. We saw that tonight with two weak groundballs. I hope he is given a legitimate opportunity to make the Twins roster in 2012 after posting ERAs of 2.08 and 1.90 the last two seasons with the Tigers’ AAA affiliate in Toledo. The Twins will return to the field at noon on Tuesday. Click here to view the article

The voting for preseason AL Central catcher will continue for another day, but let's get the discussion going on "Which AL Central First Baseman will be the best in 2012?" Vote now and comment your rankings. The First Basemen (2011 stats) Minnesota Twins - Justin Morneau - .227/.285/.333 (.618) with 16-2B, 4-HR, 30 RBI Chicago White Sox - Paul Konerko - .300/.388/.517 (.906) with 25-2B, 31-HR, 105 RBI Cleveland Indians - Casey Kotchman - .306/.378/.422 (.800) with 24-2B, 2-3B, 10-HR, 48 RBI Detroit Tigers - Prince Fielder - .299/.415/.566 (.981) with 36-2B, 1-3B, 38-HR, 120 RBI Kansas City Royals - Eric Hosmer - .293/.334/.465 (.799) with 27-2B, 3-3B, 19-HR, 78 RBI[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] SUMMARY It has been a rough year and a half for the Twins first baseman. Morneau has played in four All Star games, won the 2006 MVP and finished 2nd in 2010. But since getting kneed in the head by John McDonald in July of 2010, he has not been himself. Can he be again? We (Twins fans) sure hope so, but no one knows. He will turn 31 years old in May. 36-year-old Konerko is a guy who people keep thinking will drop off in his production, and then he put up another .900+ OPS season in 2011 despite fighting an injury most of the second half of the season. He also didn't get the kind of protection last year that most thought he would. Consider what numbers he could put up if Adam Dunn comes back with a solid season. Casey Kotchman was the 13th overall pick in 2001 out of high school. He is just 29 years old and hit well for the Rays in 2011. Cleveland will be his sixth team since 2008, and he is again on a one year contract. Eric Hosmer was the third overall pick in 2008 out of high school, so he will be just 22 years old throughout the 2012 season. He finished third place in AL Rookie of the Year voting last year with an impressive debut season. Can he fight off a sophomore slump and improve upon hi first year numbers? The Tigers surprised many in the baseball world by signing free agent Prince Fielder to a monster, nine-year, $214 million contract. He can flat-out hit, and no one seems worried about the 27 year old for the next couple of years. He has played in no less than 157 games in his full, big league seasons. He has finished in the Top 5 in NL MVP voting three times. He has even won two Silver Slugger Awards in a league that included Albert Pujols. However, switching leagues does often impact a player's numbers in year one. There is the information, now it is time to vote. Who will be the best first baseman in the AL Central in 2012? My choice? Download attachment: PrinceFielder.jpg Click here to view the article

It’s almost like they know. Coming into Friday, Miguel Sano had 20 home runs this season. Chris Colabello had 18. In his first two at-bats on Friday, Colabello homered, catching up to Sano. But it wasn’t long before Sano hit his 21st. Then, a little more than an hour later, Sano hit his 22nd homer of the year. (It’s almost like last year when Trevor Plouffe and Josh Willingham seemed to so frequently homer on the same day.) The two are easily the top home run hitters in the organization. The next highest home run hitters in the organization are Cedar Rapids third baseman Travis Harrison, who hit his thirteenth home run tonight, and Ft. Myers first baseman Kennys Vargas, also with thirteen. Check out what happened in the Twins farm system on Friday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 2, Indianapolis Indians 4 Box Score Andrew Albers was back on the mound for the Red Wings. The Canadian left-hander gave up four runs in six innings. He gave up eight hits, three of them home runs. He walked one and struck out four. Aaron Thompson came on and struck out one over two scoreless innings in relief. The offense managed just four hits in the game. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with his 19th and 20th home runs of the season. He is now hitting .367 with an OPS right around 1.100. The thing that impressed me most about Colabello is that he talks a lot about only being able to control what he can control. And he lives that thinking. That’s the thought-process he needed when he wasn’t given an opportunity in affiliated ball. It’s what he had to think in AA, and in his first big league spring training, and in the WBC, and when he was sent AAA. And, it is likely why he has maintained this performance throughout the season despite numbers that should have him in the big leagues now. New Britain Rock Cats 5, Reading Fightin Phils 6 Box Score So, it didn’t take Miguel Sano too long to figure out Eastern League pitching. Yes, he got off to a slow start, but his power numbers have been tremendous and, despite a loss in this game, he showed his power here. The Rock Cats had just five hits; three came off of the bat of Miguel Sano. In the bottom of the fourth, he hit a long, two-run home run. In the bottom of the ninth, he came to the plate with two runners on base and the Rock Cats down by four. His second homer of the day, sixth home run with the Rock Cats and 22nd home run of his season, cut the deficit to just one, but that was all the team could muster. Sano drove in all five runs. The one time he made out, the centerfielder made a catch at the wall. Of his 13 AA hits, Sano has six home runs, two triples, one double and four singles. Video of the second home run from Twins Fan from Afar (video of the 1st will be in the comments): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMmmGqKjrvE Trevor May made the start and gave up a home run on the first pitch. In all, he went five innings and gave up four runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out six. Dan Turpen came on and struck out three in two scoreless innings. Bruce Pugh came off of the disabled list. He gave up a solo home run, but that was the only blemish in the inning. AJ Achter pitched the ninth and gave up one run on three hits and a walk. Ft. Myers Miracle, Jupiter Hammerheads (Suspended in 3rd) This game was suspended due to rain with one out in the bottom of the third inning. It will be resumed when the Miracle next heads to Jupiter, which will be in mid-August. Manuel Soliman had given up three hits and two walks but no runs in 2.1 innings when the game was called. He had struck out four. Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, Burlington Bees 1 Box Score The streak continues for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. They are now 8-0 since the All-Star break. They got off to a fast start and kept the lead. In the first inning, Travis Harrison hit a two-run double. Adam Walker soon followed with a two-run homer to make it 4-0. In the second innings, Harrison hit a two-run homer. Harrison was 2-4 with his 23rd double, his 13th homer and four RBI. Walker was 2-3 with a walk and the homer was his 12th of the season. JD Williams was 2-4 with his 14th stolen base. Jeremias Pineda went 2-3. Niko Goodrum (16th two bagger), Dalton Hicks (26th) and Jhonatan Arias (3rd) each doubled. It was not just about the hitting on this night. Josue Montanez was terrific in the start. The young left gave up two hits in five shutout innings. He walked none and struck out four. Hudson Boyd made his first appearance out of the bullpen. He gave up an unearned run on two hits and a walk in two innings, striking out three. Madison Boer was activated from the DL and sent to the Kernels. He had broken his hand (left-hand) and had made a couple appearances with the GCL Twins. He gave up two hits, but no runs, in his inning. Steven Gruver came on and struck out two in a perfect ninth. Mike Pelfrey will be making a rehab start for the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Monday. Elizabethton Twins 8, Princeton Rays 0 Box Score This was a pitcher’s duel until the E-Twins scored seven runs in the bottom of the 8th inning to finish an 8-0 win. The E-Twins got on the scoreboard just an inning earlier when shortstop Ryan Walker hit his first professional home run. The big hits in the eighth inning were two-run doubles off the bats of Rory Rhodes and Javier Pimentel. Walker, Pimentel and catcher Mitch Garver each went 2-4. Yorman Landa was again terrific in the start. The young right-hander threw five shutout innings. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out eight. So, in his first two starts, he has thrown ten innings, walked two and struck out 15! Brian Gilbert made his Twins debut with a scoreless sixth frame. He struck out one. Kuo Hua Lo gave up one hit and one walk, but no runs, in two innings. He struck out two. Brandon Peterson struck out two in a scoreless ninth frame. GCL Twins 5, GCL Red Sox 2 Box Score Nick Blackburn returned to the mound in a game for the first time since 2012. The right-hander has been rehabbing all season. In October, he had bone chips removed from his elbow. Then in January, he had wrist surgery. On Friday afternoon, he made a start for the GCL Twins. He went four shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked none and struck out four. He was replaced by Damian Defrank who worked the next four innings, giving up two runs on four hits. He struck out one and walked none. Miguel Gonzalez came on for the ninth and recorded his second save. He gave up one hit and struck out one. Jorge Fernandez led the offense. He went 3-4 with his first double. Jason Kanzler went 2-4 and stole his second base. Lance Ray’s rehab continued and he had a two-run double. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

It's been about six weeks since we last updated which people in the Minnesota Twins organization are on Twitter. Since that time, several players have started tweeting while other players are new to the organization. This list does include several of the Twins 2013 draft picks. If they choose not to sign, they will be removed from the list, of course. Twitter is a great way to interact with players and with your favorite Twins bloggers. Be sure to follow the following Twins Daily writers on Twitter: @TwinsDaily, John @TwinsGeek, Parker @OverTheBaggy, Nick @nnelson9, Seth @SethTweets, and Brock @rocketpig76. If we're missing someone, please let us know. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: Twitter.jpg [TABLE=width: 577] First Name Last Name Twitter 6/16 Update 5/9 Update 6 wk change AJ Achter @ajachter35 528 491[TD=align: right]7.5%[/TD] Bo Altobelli @BoAltobelli 156 148[TD=align: right]5.4%[/TD] Oswaldo Arcia @arciaoswaldo 1,020 718[TD=align: right]42.1%[/TD] Ivan Arteaga @IvanArteaga 75,365 70,737[TD=align: right]6.5%[/TD] Tim Atherton @TimAtherton89 235 226[TD=align: right]4.0%[/TD] Luke Bard @Luke_Bard 1,002 1,007[TD=align: right]-0.5%[/TD] DJ Baxendale @DBax24 4,441 4,173[TD=align: right]6.4%[/TD] James Beresford @JamesBeresford2 1,055 943[TD=align: right]11.9%[/TD] Doug Bernier @dougbernier 218 215[TD=align: right]1.4%[/TD] J.O. Berrios @JOlaMaquina 977 868[TD=align: right]12.6%[/TD] Evan Bigley @Bigley3 641 626[TD=align: right]2.4%[/TD] Brandon Bixler @BrandonBixler 295 [/TD] AJ Bogucki @AJBogucki31 449 Hudson Boyd @boyd_hudson 435 355[TD=align: right]22.5% Joshua Burris @Josh_Burris_ 206 197[TD=align: right]4.6%[/TD] Drew Butera @DrewButera 16,501 16,094[TD=align: right]2.5%[/TD] Byron Buxton @OfficialBuck103 4,057 1,822[TD=align: right]122.7%[/TD] Chris Colabello @CC20rake 2,004 1,268[TD=align: right]58.0%[/TD] Logan Darnell @ldarnell15 221 162[TD=align: right]36.4%[/TD] Pat Dean @PDean15 370 355[TD=align: right]4.2%[/TD] Dustin DeMuth @_doubled16 298 [/TD] Scott Diamond @Scott_Diamond58 15,157 14,160[TD=align: right]7.0% Brian Dinkelman @BrDink 1,719 1,686[TD=align: right]2.0%[/TD] Brian Dozier @BrianDozier 12,668 11,453[TD=align: right]10.6%[/TD] Brian Duensing @BrianDuensing52 15,565 14,780[TD=align: right]5.3%[/TD] Tyler Duffey @TheDoof13 229 194[TD=align: right]18.0%[/TD] Ryan Eades @R_Eades37 4,348 [/TD] Eduardo Escobar @escobarmaracay 1,004 653[TD=align: right]53.8% Eric Farris @eRoc86 3,037 [/TD] Andrew Ferreira @Get_Meaty 4,612 4,804[TD=align: right]-4.0% Dallas Gallant @DGallant18 412 385[TD=align: right]7.0%[/TD] Mitchell Garver @MitchGarver 665 [/TD] Kyle Gibson @KGib44 7,697 7,181[TD=align: right]7.2% Jhonathan Goncalves @jhong1305 112 105[TD=align: right]6.7%[/TD] Niko Goodrum @NikoGoodrumTC 551 415[TD=align: right]32.8%[/TD] Steven Gruver @sgruv30 95 83[TD=align: right]14.5%[/TD] Deolis Guerra @deolisguerra 2,080 1,791[TD=align: right]16.1%[/TD] Bryan Haar @BryanHaar24 154 134[TD=align: right]14.9%[/TD] Nate Hanson @NHans12 463 440[TD=align: right]5.2%[/TD] Matt Hauser @mhauser_17 292 268[TD=align: right]9.0%[/TD] Ryan Halstead @ryhalstead 332 [/TD] BJ Hermsen @BJHermsen12 1,482 1,426[TD=align: right]3.9% DJ Hicks @DHicksMTB 949 845[TD=align: right]12.3%[/TD] Aaron Hicks @AaronHicks31 14,260 11,307[TD=align: right]26.1%[/TD] Trent Higginbotham @trenthigg 180 168[TD=align: right]7.1%[/TD] David Hurlbut @leftydh1989 104 88[TD=align: right]18.2%[/TD] Will Hurt @Will_Hurt 646 647[TD=align: right]-0.2%[/TD] CK Irby @ckirbythe3 629 [/TD] Tyler Jones @TmfJones 36 36[TD=align: right]0.0% Zack Jones @Jack_Zones04 432 409[TD=align: right]5.6%[/TD] Jason Kanzler @JasonKanzler 121 [/TD] Max Kepler @kepleroni 402 330[TD=align: right]21.8% Kyle Knudson @KKnudson6 462 438[TD=align: right]5.5%[/TD] Matt Koch @M_Koch4 68 60[TD=align: right]13.3%[/TD] Bobby Lanigan @BobbyLanigan 504 487[TD=align: right]3.5%[/TD] Andy Leer @andyleer12 135 123[TD=align: right]9.8%[/TD] Austin Malinowski @AJMalinowski24 369 353[TD=align: right]4.5%[/TD] Trevor May @TrevMay54 5,944 5,727[TD=align: right]3.8%[/TD] Trevor May (MAZR) @TrevorMAZR 234 238[TD=align: right]-1.7%[/TD] Chris Mazza @ChrisMazza10 255 241[TD=align: right]5.8%[/TD] Tanner Mendonca @TanTheMan13 393 [/TD] Kaleb Merck @TwinsMerckin 323 316[TD=align: right]2.2% Alex Meyer @Meyer17A 5,000 4,731[TD=align: right]5.7%[/TD] Levi Michael @LeviMichael9 319 303[TD=align: right]5.3%[/TD] Ethan Mildren @EMildren4040 398 [/TD] Angel Morales @AngelMorales24 338 296[TD=align: right]14.2% Miguel Munoz @mikemunoz59 139 131[TD=align: right]6.1%[/TD] Jonathan Murphy @JMurph6 269 259[TD=align: right]3.9%[/TD] Brian Navarretto @Brian_Navarrero 66 [/TD] Lester Oliveros @lesteroliveros 1,984 1,945[TD=align: right]2.0% Ryan O'Rourke @RyanO_Rourke 594 581[TD=align: right]2.2%[/TD] Chris Parmelee @CParms27 7,346 5,933[TD=align: right]23.8%[/TD] Derrick Penilla @leftywayz 21 [/TD] Glen Perkins @glen_perkins 19,646 18,130[TD=align: right]8.4% Brandon Peterson @Bpeterson_12 276 [/TD] AJ Pettersen @apettersen1 791 761[TD=align: right]3.9% Chris Pettit @cpettit815 1,491 [/TD] Trevor Plouffe @TPlouffe24 26,041 24,333[TD=align: right]7.0% Jorge Polanco @Jorge_Polanco1 116 [/TD] Christian Powell @BooPowell20 429 Ryan Pressly @pressly_ryan 1,097 738[TD=align: right]48.6% Jake Proctor @JProc23 1,202 1,192[TD=align: right]0.8%[/TD] Bruce Pugh @brucepugh55 85 79[TD=align: right]7.6%[/TD] Michael Quesada @KSada55 191 154[TD=align: right]24.0%[/TD] Antoan Richardson @ARichardson242 304 260[TD=align: right]16.9%[/TD] Chad Rodgers @CMRodg 228 215[TD=align: right]6.0%[/TD] Dereck Rodriguez @DereckRodRF3 329 331[TD=align: right]-0.6%[/TD] Josh Roenicke @JroPrimetime 1,651 [/TD] Taylor Rogers @trogers34 313 286[TD=align: right]9.4% Dan Rohlfing @DanRohlfing 930 810[TD=align: right]14.8%[/TD] Miguel Sano @SanoMiguel 3,451 2,001[TD=align: right]72.5%[/TD] Danny Santana @bigmen07 94 73[TD=align: right]28.8%[/TD] Bryan Santy @BKSanty41 179 167[TD=align: right]7.2%[/TD] Steven Sensley @steven_sensley 182 [/TD] Logan Shore @LoganShore 1,014 Aaron Slegers @Aslegers 520 Markus Solbach @MSolbach23 57 58[TD=align: right]-1.7% Manuel Soliman @Soliman30 594 561[TD=align: right]5.9%[/TD] Kohl Stewart @KohlStewart1 5,581 [/TD] Tom Stuifbergen @TomStuifbergen 752 727[TD=align: right]3.4% Anthony Swarzak @ASwarzak51 8,631 8,038[TD=align: right]7.4%[/TD] Lewis Thorpe @LewisT18 158 [/TD] Matt Tomshaw @matthewJTomshaw 237 215[TD=align: right]10.2% Michael Tonkin @mtonkin37 270 231[TD=align: right]16.9%[/TD] Stuart Turner @sturn26 1,219 [/TD] Daniel Turpen @DdTuRpEn 147 149[TD=align: right]-1.3% Kennys Vargas @kennysvargas 38 33[TD=align: right]15.2%[/TD] Tanner Vavra @tvavs5 401 [/TD] Adam Walker @walkoff28 743 601[TD=align: right]23.6% PJ Walters @PJWalters39 2,851 2,514[TD=align: right]13.4%[/TD] Tommy Watkins @TommyWatkins 1,559 1,507[TD=align: right]3.5%[/TD] Dakota Watts @watts_22 893 872[TD=align: right]2.4%[/TD] Jason Wheeler @Lil_Wheels 189 178[TD=align: right]6.2%[/TD] Stephen Wickens @wicks1221 131 126[TD=align: right]4.0%[/TD] Corey Williams @coreyw24 339 336[TD=align: right]0.9%[/TD] Jared Wilson @DubsDeuces 108 [/TD] Alex Wimmers @AlexWimmers21 1,385 1,341[TD=align: right]3.3% Tim Wood @The_Woodpile 863 850[TD=align: right]1.5%[/TD] Vance Worley @VANIMAL_49 54,340 54,382[TD=align: right]-0.1%[/TD] [/TD] FRONT OFFICE First Name Last Name Twitter 6/16 Update 5/9 Update Minnesota Twins @twins 158,089 Dave St. Peter @TwinsPrez 16,606 15,990[TD=align: right]3.9% Dustin Morse @Twins_morsecode 11,077 10,834[TD=align: right]2.2%[/TD] Mike Herman @HermTT 2,266 2,231[TD=align: right]1.6%[/TD] Mitch Hestad @mitchhestad 123 [/TD] Jack Goin @jdgoin 364 Bryan Donaldson @MNCommunityGuy 1,559 1,529[TD=align: right]2.0% Andrew Heydt @AndrewHeydt 473 461[TD=align: right]2.6%[/TD] Mike Kennedy @TwinsPRMachine 509 457[TD=align: right]11.4%[/TD] Brace Hemmelgarn @bracehemmelgarn 1,279 1,166[TD=align: right]9.7%[/TD] TC Bear @TC_00 10,851 10,052[TD=align: right]7.9%[/TD] [/TD] Twins Daily 6/16 Update 5/9 Update Twins Daily @TwinsDaily 2,651 2,279[TD=align: right]16.3% John Bonnes @TwinsGeek 5,598 5,334[TD=align: right]4.9%[/TD] Seth Stohs @SethTweets 5,246 4,984[TD=align: right]5.3%[/TD] Nick Nelson @Nnelson9 2,809 2,703[TD=align: right]3.9%[/TD] Parker Hageman @OverTheBaggy 3,463 3,165[TD=align: right]9.4%[/TD] Brock Beauchamp @rocketpig76 77 75[TD=align: right]2.7%[/TD] [/TD] Jeremy Nygaard @JeremyNygaard 481 316[TD=align: right]52.2% Cody Christie @NoDakTwinsFan 883 852[TD=align: right]3.6%[/TD] [/TD] Minor Leagues 6/16 Update 5/9 Update Rochester Red Wings @RocRedWings 6,204 5,717[TD=align: right]8.5% Josh Whetzel @JoshWhetzel 1,060 1,013[TD=align: right]4.6%[/TD] Morrie Silver @MorrieSilver8 319 298[TD=align: right]7.0%[/TD] Jim Mandelaro @JMand1 1,164 1,116[TD=align: right]4.3%[/TD] Christopher Fee @CJFee 181 148[TD=align: right]22.3%[/TD] [/TD] New Britain Rock Cats @RockCats 5,705 5,275[TD=align: right]8.2% Ken Lipshez @KenLip1 109 110[TD=align: right]-0.9%[/TD] Jeff Dooley @Jdooleysports 349 287[TD=align: right]21.6%[/TD] [/TD] @Mnfanfromafar 515 319[TD=align: right]61.4% [/TD] Ft. Myers Miracle @MiracleBaseball 5,965 5,606[TD=align: right]6.4% Bryce Zimmerman @ZimMiracle 462 414[TD=align: right]11.6%[/TD] Steve Gliner @stevieGFTM 398 389[TD=align: right]2.3%[/TD] Adam MacDonald @AdamMacMiracle 83 74[TD=align: right]12.2%[/TD] David Dorsey @DavidADorsey 1,137 1,108[TD=align: right]2.6%[/TD] [/TD] Cedar Rapids Kernels @CRKernels 4,531 3,816[TD=align: right]18.7% Morgan Hawk @Morgan_Hawk 351 337[TD=align: right]4.2%[/TD] Matt Cozzi @matt_cozzi 867 [/TD] Jim Crikket @JimCrikket 476 396[TD=align: right]20.2% Jeff Johnson @jeje66 1,112 1,044[TD=align: right]6.5%[/TD] Metro Sports Report @metrosportsrept 814 757[TD=align: right]7.5%[/TD] Andrew Pantini @stadium65 99 88[TD=align: right]12.5%[/TD] Brandon Clemens @brandonclemens 284 262[TD=align: right]8.4%[/TD] [/TD] Elizabethton Twins @ETownTwins 704 647[TD=align: right]8.8% [/TABLE] Click here to view the article

Earlier this week, I handed out the “awards” for Twins minor league relief pitcher and starting pitcher of the month for May. Today, it’s time to recognize the hitters. You’ll certainly notice that I ranked a top 6 for the two pitching categories and yet, today, I rank just five hitters. I wanted to give six, but there were a lot of guys that were in the same range, and none quite made me say that he had to be added. Miguel Sano, for instance, had an 0-24 stretch and a 1-39 stretch, and yet, he posted a .791 OPS for the month due to six doubles and seven home runs. He may have been #6 despite a .233 batting average. Tyler Grimes and Adam Bryant of the Snappers also had very solid months of day. Here are my selections for the Top 5 Twins Minor League hitters in May: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Number 5 – New Britain/Rochester – Wilkin Ramirez - (34-116) .293/.305/500 with six doubles, three triples, four home runs and 12 RBI. The Twins signed Wilkin Ramirez early in the offseason as a minor league free agent. He was once a top prospect in the Tigers organization and spent time in 2009 with the big league club. He also got time with the Atlanta Braves just last season. Ramirez began a rehab stint with Ft. Myers in late April and that continued in New Britain as the calendar changed to May. He hit .388 with three doubles, three triples and four home runs in just 11 games with the Rock Cats. He got off to a fast start with Rochester, but has really slumped of late. He has just three hits in his last 28 at bats. He is a rather free swinger which shows in his 3:34 walk to strikeout rate this season. Still just 26 years old, Ramirez does have some potential to help the Twins or other teams in the future. Number 4 – Beloit – Drew Leachman - (27-96) .281/.381/.396 with two doubles, 3 home runs and 12 RBI. Leachman started his June last night with a three-hit game at Quad Cities, a continuation of the solid hitting that he put forth throughout the month of May. Leachman was a late-round pick last year out of Division III Birmingham Southern. He began this season in the GCL, so he just made his Snappers debut in May. He quickly produced, showing power, and has been a regular in the lineup since, splitting time between the corner outfield positions and first base. Number 3 – Beloit – Jonathan Goncalves - (27-92) .293/.393/.402 with five doubles, one triple, one home run and 11 RBI. Goncalves has been in the organization for a long time. Two years ago, he was working in Extended Spring Training when there was an outfield shortage with the Ft. Myers Miracle. He has always been fast and had a very good glove, so he was promoted directly to the Miracle. It was supposed to be short-term, but he held his own and stayed the full season. He went back to the FSL last year and although the defense remained a constant, his bat really struggled. Late in the year, he was sent back to Beloit, where he should have been. He returns there this year and after a slow start, he has come on strong in May. He is not a small guy, built strong which explains the extra base hits. Number 2 - Rochester – Matt Carson - (27-92) .293/.393/.435 with eight doubles, one triple, one home run and nine RBI. Carson signed as a minor league free agent in the offseason. He has had a lot of AAA success, but has had just a few short cups of coffee in the big leagues. He has had several 25 homer seasons in recent years. At 30, people (myself included) wondered why the Twins signed Carson (and Ramirez) when the Rochester roster was to include Joe Benson and Rene Tosoni (and later included Ben Revere). But Carson has been the most consistent hitter in the Red Wings roster. In May, he produced ten extra base hits. If the Twins want someone to kind of take over in right field, or a right-handed pinch hitter, don’t be surprised if Carson gets an opportunity. The May Minnesota Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month is... Ft. Myers Miracle OF Oswaldo Arcia (29-109) .358/.388/.598 with ten doubles, one triple, four home runs and 18 RBI. In the offseason, the Twins added Arcia to the 40 man roster. He has made a name for himself with his bat. He was the Appy League Hitter of the year in 2010. He dominated for Beloit last April, and then after elbow surgery he was promoted to Ft. Myers. That’s where he returned in 2012. In April, he missed some time due to a leg injury, but in May, he has been tremendous. Sure, he is not a big fan of walking and probably strikes out too much. He also really struggles against left-handed pitching. However, against righties, he is incredible, and that really started to show again in May. He had many multi-hit games and the 15 extra base hits in the month. Oswaldo Arcia was the easy choice for Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month. Please feel free to discuss. Download attachment: OswaldoArcia.jpg Click here to view the article

The Trade Deadline is at 3:00 CST today. For the farm system, this could mean promotions or additions. Trevor May put himself back in line for a promotion with a tremendous performance for the Red Wings on Wednesday while Josmil Pinto homered in the game (video below). There were also a couple of walk-offs in the Twins farm system. Unfortunately, the parent club was unable to come up with a big hit and ended up falling to the Kansas City Royals 3-2. Here is the Minor League Report for Wednesday:RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Lehigh Valley 8 Box Score Trevor May was finally able to stretch out. In fact, he recorded more outs on Wednesday afternoon than he had in the previous five weeks combined (due to being on the DL for a month and a couple of rainouts). He needed just 77 pitches to get through 6.2 scoreless innings. He gave up five hits, walked just one and struck out five. It will be interesting to see if he gets the call up now or gets one more start (to get to 100 pitches) before that move comes. When he left, the Red Wings had a 6-0 lead. Aaron Thompson got a strikeout to get out of that seventh inning. Things went downhill from there. Thompson pitched to four batters in the 8th inning and gave up two hits and two walks. All four came around to score. Michael Tonkin allowed two of Thompson’s runners to score and was charged with another run of his own on two hits before getting out of the 8th. AJ Achter came on for the ninth inning, trying to protect a one-run lead. He gave up three runs on four hits in the inning to take the loss. Offensively, the Red Wings were led by Deibinson Romero who went 2-4 with his eighth home run. It was the 27th straight game that he has reached base. Josmil Pinto hit his fifth home run and second in as many days. Pedro Florimon went 2-4. Doug Bernier hit his 19th double, and Chris Rahl hit his 16th double. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 3, Trenton 2 (10 innings) Box Score Aaron Hicks had the Rock Cats lone hits in Tuesday night’s game. On Wednesday, he had two more hits, both doubles. Michael Gonzales went 2-4 and hit his first AA home run. Tony Thomas played left field. He had two outfield assists in this close game, including one at home plate. Jason Wheeler returned to the Rock Cats rotation after a one-start stint with the Red Wings. In 6.2 innings, he gave up one run on seven hits. He walked one and struck out four. Ryan O’Rourke finished off the 7th inning with a strikeout. Cole Johnson worked the next two innings and gave up one run on two hits. Mason Melotakis pitched a scoreless tenth frame for the save. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 7, Clearwater 8 Box Score The Miracle bats were shut down early, and the team got a tough start from a guy who has been one of their best starters all year. Tim Shibuya got the starting nod. He was charged with eight runs on nine hits and a walk in just three innings. He struck out two. BJ Hermsen came on and gave up a hit and a walk over three scoreless innings. Madison Boer threw two scoreless innings that were followed by a scoreless ninth inning by Tyler Jones. The Miracle attempted a comeback. They scored five runs in the seventh inning and another two in the eighth but fell a run shy. Byron Buxton went 2-4 with a walk. Adam Walker went 2-5. Max Kepler knocked his 11th double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Burlington 2 (11 innings) Box Score Ryan Walker went 3-6 in this game. His 11th inning, walk off single gave the Kernels a much-needed win. Michael Quesada went 2-4 with his ninth double in the game. Ryan Eades put together a very solid start. He gave up two runs on four hits (2 homers) in seven innings. He walked two and struck out three. Nick Burdi came on. He gave up three hits in two innings, but no runs in part because of five strikeouts. Dallas Gallant pitched the final two innings without giving up a run. He struck out five as well for the Win. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Greeneville 5 Box Score The E-Twins fell behind early and were unable to muster much offensive firepower. The team had just three hits and walked five times. Tyler Mautner hit his 11th double. Derrick Penilla started and gave up five runs on six hits and two walks in three innings. He struck out four. Sam Clay put in his best game of the season. The lefty gave up just one hit and walked one over three scoreless innings. He struck out three. Cameron Booser walked one and struck out one over two scoreless innings and struck out four. Kuo Hua Lo struck out two in a perfect inning. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 4 (14 innings) Box Score It was a long day for the GCL Twins, and unfortunately it ended as most of their games have this season, in a loss. Zach Tillery started and gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits over five innings. He didn’t walk any and struck out five. Mike Theofanopoulus came on and gave up just one hit over three shutout innings. He struck out four. Miles Nordgren ate up the next 5.1 innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk (intentional). Nordgren left the ballgame tied but with the bases loaded. Callan Pearce came on and walked the next two batters to allow two runs to score. Manuel Guzman led the offense. He went 3-5 with a walk and his second double. Joel Polanco had a walk and his fifth double. He also stole his fifth base. Amaurys Minier went 2-6. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Trevor May, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Ryan Walker, Cedar Rapids Kernels SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – Sean Gilmartin Erie @ New Britain (6:05 CST) – Tyler Duffey Clearwater @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Matt Tomshaw (vs Aaron Nola) Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – Chih-Wei Hu Elizabethton @ Kingsport (6:00 CST) – TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (11:00am CST – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games. Click here to view the article

It’s hard to ignore the numbers. They are pretty glaring. Overall this year, Minnesota Twins starter Mike Pelfrey is 3-6 with a 6.12 ERA in his first 13 starts. He’s allowing over 1.6 base runners per inning. It has been a tough go. In April, he posted a 7.66 ERA. In May, that number dropped to 5.90. Through two Quality Starts in June, he has posted a 4.05 ERA. The numbers are bad, but it seemed to me from watching that things weren’t quite as bad as they seemed. For instance, in his final two starts in May, he was good through five innings. On May 26, he had given up just two runs through five innings before giving up three in the sixth, giving him a final line of five runs in 5+ innings. On May 31, he threw five shutout innings before giving up three runs in the sixth.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] So, I looked into the Game Log and found that Pelfrey has been victimized by the big inning a lot. So far this season, he has given up five runs in an inning once. He has given up three runs in an inning six times. Five times, he has allowed two runs in an inning (but just once did that happen twice in one game). Combined, that is 33 runs of the 44 earned runs (and 46 unearned runs) he has allowed. 75% of his runs allowed have come during big innings. You often hear coaches or announcers say, “The team needs to put up a crooked number.” The goal for a pitcher is to give up no runs in an inning, but it’s not reasonable to expect him to do that all the time. If he can limit a team to just one run, rather than allowing a big inning, it most often won’t hurt too much. Pelfrey has thrown 64.2 innings this year. He has been removed from the game six times in the middle of an inning. So, he has pitched in a total of 68 innings. In 12 of those innings, he gave up more than one run. He has given up exactly one run 11 other times. That means that he has pitched a scoreless inning 45 times. He has given up zero or one run in 56 of those 68 innings in which he has pitched (82.4% of his innings). His ERA in those 56 innings is 1.76. However, he has given up 33 runs in those 12 multi-run innings and that’s how he still has an ERA over six through 13 starts. I’m not sitting here pretending that we can just forget about those 12 multi-run innings that Pelfrey (and Twins fans) have endured. He would be the first to tell you that he isn’t happy with his season to this point. (in fact, 1500espn’s Brandon Warne wrote a nice piece with some great quotes from Pelfrey himself on his season) But a deeper look tells us what has been the problem for Pelfrey. When he has given up runs, often, he is unable to stop the proverbial bleeding. More often than not (12 to 11), when he’s given up run, he’s allowed more than that one run. That, in my mind, has been the key to Pelfrey’s early-season struggles. And, if he is able to limit the damage in those big innings, we should see his ERA (and his pitch counts) drop more quickly. View full article

Download attachment: Perkins_Mauer_600-321.jpg On Thursday, the 2013 World Baseball Classic rosters were announced. The day began with MLB Network unveiling Team USA. In the afternoon, the rosters of the other participating countries were announced. Three years ago, Tom Stuifbergen became a household name for the team from The Netherlands when he, under the tutelage of Bert Blyleven, threw five shutout innings against the vaunted lineup of the Dominican Republic. He and several other Twins players (past, present and future) will be participating in this year’s tournament/exhibition. Before getting to those Twins related players, here is a rundown of where the games are taking place and which teams are involved. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Pool A will take place in Fukuoka, Japan. It will include teams from Japan, Brazil, Cuba and China. Pool B will be March 2-5 in Taichung, Taiwan. The teams participating there will be Chinese Taipei, The Netherlands, Korea, and Australia. Pool C will be played March 7-10 in San Juan Puerto Rico. Teams there will be Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Spain. Finally, Pool D will be held in Phoenix on March 7-10. Along with Team USA will be Canada, Mexico and Italy. As we knew previous, Minnesotans and Minnesota Twins, Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins will be on Team USA. As was reported here yesterday, Eddie Rosario will be part of a pretty impressive Puerto Rican outfield (Beltran, Rios, Pagan, Torres). As you read here earlier today, JO Berrios is also on the roster. So is former Twins LHP JC Romero. Team Australia is, as you would expect, full of players formerly in the Twins organization. The one current Twins player is infielder James Beresford. He is joined by former Twins Luke Hughes, Justin Huber and Brad Thomas. He’s also joined by former Twins farmhands Matt Williams, Brendan Wise, and Peter Moylan. Also, Ryan-Rowland Smith is on the roster. He was a Rule 5 pick of the Twins who was sent back to the Mariners. Liam Hendriks’ is not playing due to his elbow surgery in September. Jose Mijares will be playing for the team from Venezuela. Drew Butera will be on Team Italy. Former Twin infielder Nick Punto is also on the Italy roster, as is Twins minor leaguer Chris Colabello. What a 12-month period it has been for him! Former Twins first-round pick, Dan Serafini, is also on their roster. Team Canada will include 1B Justin Morneau. As we heard awhile ago, Scott Diamond is not playing due to his elbow surgery in December. However, minor league lefty Andrew Albers is on the roster. Former Twin Rene Tosoni will also be on the team. So will former RHP Jesse Crain. Ray Chang, from Kansas City and who has played in the Twins org the last two seasons, is again on Team China in the #WBC. Carlos Gomez will be on the Dominican Republic roster. Luis Ayala’s time with the Twins was short, and oh-so memorable. He’ll be on the team from Mexico. Finally, Tom Stuifbergen and Bert Blyleven will be reunited on the team from the Netherlands. Joining them will be tall RHP Loek Van Mil, a long-time Twins farmhand. Also, Twins minor leaguer Shairon Martis will be on the roster. Who knows who will win the baseball exhibition? The primary thing for me is that all of the Twins players come back healthy! Feel free to discuss. Click here to view the article

After weeks of writing about the MLB Draft, today is the day. Sometime shortly after 6:00 central time, the Houston Astros will make the first pick of the draft. The Twins will pick soon after. By night’s end, 73 picks will have been made. The Minnesota Twins will make two selections. By the end of Saturday, the Twins will have made 40. Over 1,200 players will have been drafted. That will be a lot of draft day stories, and that’s what this article is about. Below, you will find the draft day stories, in their words, of several players at various levels of the Twins' farm system. I asked two questions. What was their draft day like, and when they found they had been drafted by the Twins, what was their reaction?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Niko Goodrum, Cedar Rapids Kernels, 2nd Round, 2010 I remember my computer freezing up, so I decided to go to my room and relax. While it was frozen, I had been selected in the second round, 71st overall. I received a phone call from my scout, Jack Powell, telling me Congrats. I asked him, “For what?” He said, “We gotchya man! We drafted you!” So, I sprinted back to my computer, and it had unfrozen perfectly to be playing my highlight video. It was a great day for me and my family. Words couldn’t express the amount of joy and happiness that went through my body. Dalton Hicks, Cedar Rapids Kernels, 17th Round, 2012 It obviously was great seeing my name, specifically called by the Twins. They were the team I wanted to get drafted by after hearing so many good things about the organization. Draft day, for me, was just another day. We had end-of-the-year meetings with our college coaches. I was on campus, about to meet with my coaches, when I got the call from my family. The first thing I did was go to the mall and buy a shirt that said “Big League Swag” on it. I saw it a month before and said, when I get drafted, I’m getting this shirt. I still have it hanging up! Alex Wimmers, New Britain Rock Cats, 1st Round, 2010 I remember when I was drafted, there were so many happy emotions going through my mind. I always wanted to play professional baseball, and in the big leagues. And, on that day, my dream came true. I couldn’t be happier that all my hard work and dedication paid off. As far as getting drafted by the Twins, I was super excited to be a part of a wonderful organization that has the reputation of not only winning, but winning the right way. It’s such an honor and a great feeling knowing how much they believe in me to help out and carry on the tradition. Tyler Duffey, Ft. Myers Miracle, 5th Round, 2012 I really had no expectations. I had heard from maybe one or two teams. I was actually taking a makeup test at school and heard my name come up. I was beyond exciting just to be picked, let alone in the 5th round, and I couldn’t wait to get started. (It was) definitely an emotional day, to say the least. Oh, and I hadn’t really heard from the Twins much, but I knew that had taken (JT) Chargois in the 2nd round. Matt Hauser, New Britain Rock Cats, 7th Round, 2010 Well I was actually still in San Diego packing my stuff up after finishing my senior baseball season. We had gotten back from the ASU regional, and I was hanging out with a lot of my teammates I wouldn't really be seeing much of. We had a good amount of guys that we knew were getting drafted. I think it turned out to be 10 or 11 my senior year. So we were just kind of hanging out, thinking about the last couple years, how close we all got, and how much life was about to change for most of us. I had a pretty good idea I was getting drafted in the 6 or 7 round by a couple of teams. So I was basically just waiting for those rounds to come along. But nothing really prepares you to hearing your name on the draft board. It's a pretty amazing experience. The Twins called me earlier in the 7th round and asked if I was ready to get my pro career started. I told them, of course. And once my name got called, it was just pretty crazy. All my buddies started yelling. It wasn't really real until that point. The Twins called me back. I talked to them. They told me they would call back in a couple of days, and to enjoy the next couple of days with my family. I talked to my mom, dad and had a lot of texts and calls from my buddies. It was just exciting. I had always wanted to play professional baseball. I was just happy to be able to have a shot at one day playing in the big leagues. Not many guys get that opportunity. It's a special feeling. It still is. Luke Bard, Cedar Rapids Kernels, 1st Round, 2012 The draft was a really exciting time and something I will never forget. It was great to be able to spend that special moment with the people closest to me. I was thrilled when I heard the Twins call my name. I had heard nothing but great things about the Twins, and could not wait to begin my professional career with such a great organization. Kyle Gibson, Rochester Red Wings, 1st Round, 2009 My draft day was a lot of fun! Had a lot of people over at the house just grilling out and having a good time hanging out with friends and family. With my arm injury still a recent happening, it offered a bit of uncertainty with what was going to happen during the draft. 2) As each pick went by it was creating more and more anxiousness at the party, but as soon as Mr. Selig announced my name, there was a loud cheering and yelling that still gives me chills thinking about today. For more from when Gibson was drafted by the Twins, Gibson joined me on a podcast in early July. Click here (and then fast forward to about the 3 minute mark). And, you may recall, he also called into my podcast less than 90 minutes before the signing deadline, right before he signed with Twins. Thanks again to those players for their thoughtful responses. Best wishes to all of the players that get selected. Good luck the Twins whose scouts have been working tirelessly in an attempt to find the best players and the diamonds in the rough. To the cross-checkers, and to Deron Johnson. Draft day is a fun day, and Twins Daily will be covering it extensively, as we have the past few weeks. Please feel free to comment. View full article

When the Twins long 2011 season came to an end, there were a lot of questions. Who would be back? Who would be healthy? However, in general, one of the players who was expected to remain with the Twins was Ben Revere. Throughout the offseason, it was just a given that, even thought he didn’t hit well in 2011, he improved his game in September and his range and speed made up for any other deficiencies. The biggest question early in the offseason was whether the Twins should have Revere play left field or center field with Denard Span playing the other position. The Twins talked about needing to improve defense throughout the offseason, and the thought of Revere and Span roaming left field and centerfield at Target Field was assumed to be part of that.Download attachment: RevereDemoted.jpg So, how did it get to the point where, last Saturday, the Twins announced Ben Revere was headed to Triple-A? How did Ben Revere get to Rochester? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] OK, the literal answer is that he had a Sunday afternoon flight from Minneapolis to Rochester, NY. But I think we can all dig a little deeper than that. So many things have happened since then. Each of the following has had at least something to do with Ben Revere being back in AAA. Terry Ryan Reclaims Twins GM Job – When the news came that Bill Smith was losing the GM job and Terry Ryan was taking it back, Ryan did a lot of radio interviews. He was frequently asked about Denard Span and Ben Revere. When speaking of Span, he spoke glowingly about his defense, his arm, his approach at the plate, the pop in his bat, etc. When talking about Revere, it was quite clear that he felt that Revere was maybe a fourth outfielder and needed to improve. Cuddyer/Kubel Replaced by Willingham/Doumit – Although the Twins saved $21 million in this transition, they lose very little on the field. Denard Span is Healthy – Before the concussion issues last year, Denard Span was the top defensive center fielder in the league. He is also a tremendous lead-off hitter who gets on base at a great clip and has enough pop in his bat to accumulate a lot of extra base hits. Even at that point, as spring training began, the assumption was that Span and Revere would team up in left and center with Willingham covering the smaller right field. But a couple of things happened in spring that really reduced the likelihood of playing time for Ben Revere. Chris Parmelee’s Emergence – Parmelee had a strong second half in New Britain, a tremendous debut in September and a strong spring. It was clear that he had won a spot on the team. Justin Morneau as DH – With Parmelee able to play 1B and needing to play every day, it made it much easier to let Morneau get his confidence back as a full-time DH. HOWEVER… The Catchers Need to Play Elsewhere – Ryan Doumit was likely to be the Twins DH most days simply to get his bat in the lineup, but if Morneau is the DH, Doumit needs to play elsewhere. Joe Mauer will likely DH or play 1B when he doesn’t catch. That means that Chris Parmelee may need to play elsewhere. Doumit and Parmelee would not play well in left field but could hold their own in right field (and they got some time there in spring games). Gardenhire really likes Trevor Plouffe in right field. Willingham Feels More Comfortable in Left Field – As all of these things were pushing toward needing to find at bats for several players in right field, Revere included, Josh Willingham suddenly acknowledged that he felt more comfortable in left field. That made sense. I mean, that’s the primary position that he has played in his big league career. But, is it also possible that he moves to left and right field can be a place where Doumit, Plouffe and Parmelee can play? Claiming Clete Thomas – When the Twins had the opportunity to claim Clete Thomas, a guy they had drafted long ago out of high school, they jumped on it. With Thomas, they found a guy who can play all three outfield positions well, has a good arm, and has some power potential. Frankly, Revere's arm (even if it is stronger) is not strong enough for right field. In reality, this is good news for Ben Revere for a couple of reasons: Too Young to Sit – With all of the above bats (Doumit, Parmelee, Plouffe) to try to fit into right field and Span and Willingham in the lineup everyday, where were the at bats for the 23-year-old? In Rochester. Most are in agreement that Joe Benson, Brian Dozier and Chris Parmelee are guys who should be playing every day in Rochester instead of playing one to three times a week in Minnesota. Revere is younger than all three of them. Too Talented to Sit – If there is a belief that Ben Revere’s ceiling is that of a fourth outfielder, then playing three times or less a week is fine, regardless of the age. But how quickly do we forget that he has hit .325/.384/.406 in his minor league career. Although he hit an alarming .267/.310/.309 with the Twins in 480 plate appearances in 2011, it does not mean that is his ceiling. He has about 150 plate appearances in AAA, and there are things he can work on to improve and if there is a need with the Twins, he can come up and be more ready. In three games in Rochester this week, he has already played a game at all three outfield positions. He has made two or three diving catches already. He has also caught a ball in medium-deep centerfield and had a runner tag up and go to third on him. He is getting every day at bats as the team’s leadoff hitter. Instead of sitting on the pine with the Twins, he is getting better, and at the end of the day, that is in the best interest of Ben Revere and of the Minnesota Twins. Click here to view the article

Things were pretty tough in the Twins farm system on Wednesday night. However, on Thursday, there were plenty of highlights for each of the four Twins affiliates. There were several great pitching performances. There were a lot of really strong hitting performances with multiple multi-hit games and some big home runs. One team ended one long streak, and another hopes to have started another long streak. A couple of bullpen arms continued their early-season dominance. One pitcher threw six one-hit innings. Another pitcher had a no-hitter through four innings. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Drew Leachman was removed from the Cedar Rapids Disabled List and returned to their lineup. Matt Tomshaw was put on the 7-Day DL for the Kernels. Josue Montanez was sent back to Extended Spring Training. Oh, and it has been verified that J. O. Berrios has been added to the Kernels roster. The Twins had an off day and flew to Chicago to start a weekend series. There is a lot of information today, plenty for those Adopt-A-Prospect forums! Rochester Red Wings 5, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 4 Box Score It has been a rough and disappointing start to the season for the Rochester Red Wings. Coming into the game, the team was 2-11 and had lost seven straight games. The offense had also not scored a run in 20 innings. The Red Wings got things going in the first inning and were able to hang on for the win. In the first inning, Eric Farris led off with a single. Chris Herrmann scored him on an opposite field double. Clete Thomas singled in Herrmann. Then Chris Colabello launched a towering, two-run blast, his fifth homer of the season. It gave the Red Wings a 4-0 lead before there was an out recorded. In the third inning, Chris Herrmann scored on a fielder’s choice by Colabello for the final run of the game for the Wings. Of course, the offense pretty much stopped after the first four batters. They had just two more hits the rest of the game. Herrmann was 2-3 with a walk and a double. Even Bigley, in his first game back with the Red Wings, went 1-2 with a walk. Virgil Vasquez started and went the first five innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on six hits. He walked two and struck out three. Daniel Turpen gave up three hits over the next 1.2 innings while striking out two. Tyler Robertson came on with runners on and two outs in the 7th. He notched a big strikeout. Luis Perdomo got his first save of the year. He went the final two innings, giving up two solo home runs, but got the final out of the Red Wings third win. New Britain Rock Cats 17, Portland Sea Dogs 1 Box Score The goal of any baseball team in any baseball game is to get some runs to support good pitching. Well, in this game, the offense was a bit extreme, and that’s a good thing, but it shouldn’t hide some pretty solid pitching too. 17 runs. 21 hits. 7 walks. The Rock Cats offense came to play. Antoan Richardson went 4-6 with a walk, his second double and his seventh stolen base. James Beresford went 3-3 with three walks and his, you guessed it, third stolen base. Curt Smith went 3-5 with his third double and first home run. Josmil Pinto went 3-6. Reynaldo Rodriguez walked and hit his fourth and fifth doubles. Danny Ortiz went 2-6 with his sixth double. Jhon Goncalves went 2-6 with his first double. All nine Rock Cats batters had at least one hit. Alex Meyer was a little wild but very effective. The lanky righty went the first six innings without giving up a run. He yielded up one hit, walked four and struck out five. Edgar Ibarra came on and worked the 7th and 8th innings. He gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Bobby Lanigan pitched a 1, 2, 3 ninth inning. Ft. Myers Miracle 11, St. Lucie Mets 8 Box Score After starting the season with 12 straight wins, the Miracle finally took their first loss of the 2013 season on Wednesday night. On Thursday, they traveled across the state to play the St. Lucie Mets looking to start a new streak. Thanks to their bats and tremendous bullpen work, the Miracle improved to 13-1 on the season. Things started out well for the Miracle. In the top of the first, AJ Pettersen led off with a double. He came around to score on Miguel Sano’s fifth home run of the year. Pettersen led the offense with three hits. He was 3-5 with his third double and his second stolen base. Sano was 2-4 with a walk and three RBI. Kyle Knudson went 2-5 with his second double. Down 7-6 in the 7th, Kennys Vargas knocked a two-run double to give the Miracle the lead and they didn’t look back. Vargas was 2-4 and the double was his fourth. Lance Ray went 2-3 with two walks and his third double. Madison Boer started and gave up seven runs on six hits and four walks in 2.1 innings. He struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes came on and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in 2.2 innings. He struck out three. Then in the fifth inning the dominant bullpen came in. Ryan O’Rourke has been the guy to come on in close games, often to see the Miracle take the lead. Reflecting this, O’Rourke's record improved to 4-0. He pitched two innings and struck out one. Zack Jones came on and recorded his fifth save by working the final two innings. He walked one and struck out three. Early in the season O’Rourke has pitched nine innings and given up no runs on two hits and a walk while striking out seven. Jones has thrown eight shutout innings. He has allowed one hit, walked two and struck out ten. Cedar Rapids Kernels 4, Peoria Chiefs 13 Box Score Things started out so well for the Kernels on this night, but it didn’t take long for things to completely turn around. The Kernels took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an Adam Walker RBI single. In the second, a Tyler Grimes triple was followed by JD Williams’ first home run of the year. Taylor Rogers started and through four innings he had given up no hits. However, things went sour in the fifth inning. Rogers gave up eight earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 4.1 innings. Manuel Soliman was called on and was hit for five runs (2 earned) on four hits and two walks. Chris Mazza came on and gave up two runs and struck out two in 2.1 scoreless innings. Byron Buxton went 2-4 with a walk and his fifth stolen base. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 with a walk and his fourth double. Dalton Hicks and Adam Walker were each 2-5 with an RBI. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article